An increasing number of vehicles are now equipped with vehicle-to-vehicle communication system, or mobile-to-vehicle communication systems. Such communication systems are mostly used for safety, traffic management, driver assistance systems, policing and enforcement, pricing and payments.
The vehicle-to-vehicle communication system generally utilizes a bandwidth in a range of 5.9 GHz in most countries, while other devices use Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Near Field Communication (NFC), or some other kind of radio frequency for bi-directional communication.
In an application no. WO2003085619 by Naresh Kumar Goyle discloses a system that provides a noise free way of communicating signals to enable transfer of precise messages between vehicles that is vehicle-to-vehicle communication. The communication system enables a vehicle to convey specific message to nearby vehicle quickly and effectively. Naresh Kumar Goyle further discloses generation of signals that are transferred by transceivers to the other vehicles to actuate pre-recorded messages in the system of the other vehicle. Such system requires the information to be exchange, to be pre-recorded and available on either side of the communication system. Moreover, the information exchanged between vehicles in such communication is governed by a set of predefined codes, each code points to at least one pre-recorded message that need to be played. In addition to being a pre-structured, such communication employs a suitable wireless technology, which may require secure connection, device pairing, time consuming as well as lacks responsiveness to external actuation.
In an application, US20110134971 by Choi et al. discloses a system and a method for transferring and receiving data in an audio frequency band. The data to be transmitted are added to an audio signal and the audio signal is transmitted in the audio frequency band, so that the data for the acoustic communication are effectively transmitted to the recipient in the audio frequency band.
US 2005/0049732 by Kanevsky et al. and US 2010/0030838 by Atsmon et al. discuss communication between two intelligent elements using acoustic means. While Kanevsky et al. focus on using existing audio hardware like speakers and microphone for audio transmission, Atsmon et al. focus on using ultrasonic frequencies of range less than 50 kHz with special ultrasonic transducers.
The U.S. Pat. No. 6,489,885 issued to Solow, teaches an apparatus for storing horn sound in a digital format instead of using conventional horn mechanisms. The main components of the digital circuit disclosed by Solow are clock circuit, counter, a memory location and digital to analog convertor (DAC).
The application US20110060480 by Mottla et al. teaches a method, a system, and a mobile device that communicates directly with a vehicle-associated control module using either a TCP/IP communications channel or near-field communications. A user enters a request through an application provided in the mobile-device. The request can be a function, such as unlocking the vehicle doors, illuminating the interior or exterior lights, honking the horn, or activating a panic alarm. The disclosure teaches the use on a mobile device to control various function of a vehicle through a secure channel. The instruction flow is uni-directional from mobile to vehicle.
US 2008/0165622 by Liao et al. discuss the use of existing computer speaker and microphone for transmitting and receiving high frequency audio signals. The focus of this invention pertains to the ultrasonic/quasi-ultrasonic range of frequencies without any special interface requirement other than speakers and microphones.
Vehicle embedded systems today have multiple mechanisms to react in case of emergencies. A number of standards for example European Telecommunications Standards Institute standard TR 102 18 mandate different capabilities to be incorporated as part of safety measures. The possible implementation of this deals largely with the use of mobile networks or the WiFi network formed with near-by vehicles. However, there are situations where neither of mobile or WiFi network is available. In addition, there are multiple interfaces like Bluetooth, NFC for short-range communication supported by different systems, which result in an inability to form a communication network with a nearby device.
From the reference cited, there is a long felt need for a system, a method, and a device that utilizes existing setup without major modification for a vehicle communication that uses a readily available unused spectrum without affecting humans. Exploiting the unused spectrum needs is free, as no licensing for the spectrum is needed. The use in unused spectrum also reduces the signal interference. There is also a long felt need for a system that can setup a communication channel between two devices without the need of time consuming and network dependant operation like Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and other conventional mode of communication.